Scam on job proposals!!!

[kissaki72]

I'm observing with concern that lately they are profiling on the Upwork platform messages of job proposals that are a scam. It is the same pattern of operation:

1.-They offer high amount of money.

2.-They indicate to make contact via Whatsapp or Telegram.

3.-Once you contact them they ask you for money to give the job. Does anyone know if there is already a follow up to this type of problem? I wonder if the platform can not take some kind of measure to filter this type of scams, as it not only makes some freelancers spend their connect but also makes it difficult to find  real jobs. I've attached an example.

**edited for Community Guidelines**

[pgiambalvo · Accepted solution]

Yes, they are and have been a huge problem for months. Thank you for reporting these here. We don't know why Upwork won't block posts that have contact info in them though, but maybe someday, they will. Read this to help you stay safe: https://community.upwork.com/t5/New-to-Upwork/List-of-red-flags-for-scams/m-p/1017044/highlight/true...

[AveryO]

Thank you for bringing this to our attention, Luis. 

Please know that the team is aware of the situation and are working to address it. I have also reported the jobs you are referring to and the team will review and address it accordingly. 

[erickson_lydia]

What do I do with a contract that will be long term? Paying taxes on the income plus paying the UpWork percentage means that I will end up only getting half of the contracted amount, but I will be taxed on the whole. While I adore UpWork, I hate punitive taxation. What do I do?

[petra_r]

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Lydia E wrote:

What do I do with a contract that will be long term? Paying taxes on the income plus paying the UpWork percentage means that I will end up only getting half of the contracted amount, but I will be taxed on the whole. While I adore UpWork, I hate punitive taxation. What do I do?

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No, it doesn't! Where in the world do get the idea from that you either only get half, or are taxed on all of it? First of all the Upwork fee is 20% only for the first $500 with any client, then it drops to 10% and eventually 5%. So nowhere NEAR "half". Plus, obviously, you can claim the Upwork fees as a business expense, so you are not taxed on that part.

Plus, what does that have to do with the thread you posted on, which is about scams.

[researchediting]

Apparently an accounting degree requires neither basic arithmetic or knowledge of the most elementary tax law.
I'm most impressed at someone's having worked on the "original HIPPA legislation" before its title was revised and it was passed as HIPAA.

[martina_plaschka]

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Douglas Michael M wrote:

Apparently an accounting degree requires neither basic arithmetic or knowledge of the most elementary tax law.
I'm most impressed at someone's having worked on the "original HIPPA legislation" before its title was revisedd and it was passed as HIPAA.

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Well it seems her employment at the IRS did nothing to close these gaps in knowledge. 

What to say?

This can go two ways: either aquiring a basic education on how things work, or become the most favorite client of the IRS. They probably have a wall for that, similar to employee of the month. In this case, they have percentages, as in: overpaid their taxes by 120%, something like that.  

[martina_plaschka]

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Douglas Michael M wrote:

Apparently an accounting degree requires neither basic arithmetic or knowledge of the most elementary tax law.
I'm most impressed at someone's having worked on the "original HIPPA legislation" before its title was revisedd and it was passed as HIPAA.

---

Definitely a typo. It should be HIPPO legislation, and all self-respecting zoos have it. 

[laurentli]

It's really boring and a real waste of time.
I feel like 9 out of 10 proposals are scams lately.

[feed_my_eyes]

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Luis Q wrote:

I'm observing with concern that lately they are profiling on the Upwork platform messages of job proposals that are a scam. It is the same pattern of operation:

1.-They offer high amount of money.

2.-They indicate to make contact via Whatsapp or Telegram.

3.-Once you contact them they ask you for money to give the job.

---

You are not allowed to contact clients outside of Upwork before a contract is in place, so stop doing that. 

[kissaki72]

Hello Christine,

Thanks for you reply.

The problem I think is not the communication with a client outside of upwork, the worrying thing is that the only way to establish a secure working relationship is through the upwork platform, on more than one occasion I have managed to get many clients who intend to pay outside of upwork to create a contract and pay me through upwork, as it should be, and this is a measure that should be clear to all workers of upwork as it is the only guarantee that our work will be respected and we will receive the payment in the right way. I want to make clear that I never try to get contracts or payments outside the upwork platform. I appreciate your guidance on this matter. I would like to know what is your opinion regarding the job proposals that are scam (I counted 30 messages of this type yesterday) and encourage to break the work rules of upwork?

[petra_r]

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Luis Q wrote: The problem I think is not the communication with a client outside of upwork

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Oh, but it is because it is strictly forbidden and will get your account suspended by Upwork if you are caught.

[feed_my_eyes]

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Luis Q wrote:

I would like to know what is your opinion regarding the job proposals that are scam (I counted 30 messages of this type yesterday) and encourage to break the work rules of upwork?

---

My opinion is that freelancers should familiarise themselves with the terms of service and not break the rules themselves.

[drosenthal]

Sorry, I disagree. This has nothing to do with familiarizing oneself with the terms of service. Today it is absolutely impossible to check the job postings. In the last few hours, they are practically only spam. Please, Upwork, do something about this and fast! It's seriously harming all those legitimately participating in the Upwork marketplace. 

[yofazza]

For now you can use the custom search, for example:

https://www.upwork.com/nx/jobs/search/?sort=recency&payment_verified=1

Buried between the pile of scams, normal jobs are still there.

[drosenthal]

Actually, Radia, it doesn't solve the issue. I am a translator, and with the solution you are proposing, I have to go through a lot of job postings that don't fit my profile at all. It's absolutely necessary for Upwork to come up with some kind of filter that immediately removes the spamming, or even better, checks it before it is allowed to be posted.

[yofazza]

You need to adjust it more, like selecting the categories.

You might also want to uncheck the "verified payment" checkbox, and put some keyword for exclusion by clicking the "advanced search".

You can exclude gmail, telegram, "contact me", etc. And payment verified unchecked because the non-verified payment clients are not a small portion of legitimate clients.

[kissaki72]

PARTIAL SOLUTION SCAM ON JOBS PROPOSALS!!! 😀👍

Hello Upworkers,
I think I got a solution (it is not perfect) but it eliminates up to 98% of the problem of job proposals that are scam.
In the upwork advanced job search you can filter the search so that only non-scam job proposals are allowed to appear in our search.

It is the first time that I use the search filters but I did the test placing some words exclude some words and I could filter all the following cases:
1.- **Edited for Community Guidelines**
2.- **Edited for Community Guidelines**
3.-WhatsApp right now **Edited for Community Guidelines**
4.-telegram to learn more about the project ........
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
5.-via telegram **Edited for Community Guidelines**
6.-Click on the link if you're interested👇👇
**Edited for Community Guidelines**
7.-WhatsApp right now **Edited for Community Guidelines**
8.-telegram **Edited for Community Guidelines**

I hope this will help us a little bit to solve this uncomfortable problem of scam job proposals. If someone comes up with a similar solution or improve the one I proposed please do not hesitate to share it to the community. The idea is that together we help the upwork platform to be a safe and trusted site as it has always been. 😀 👍

[drosenthal]

Both the solutions proposed by Radia and Luis may work in the end, but they are only a workaround and not practical at all. It is absolutely necessary for Upwork to solve this on their end, because otherwise, both employers and freelancers will leave the site and look for solutions elsewhere.